Slayers Legend (two-volume compilation from old Slayers manga, with chapters from Slayers and Chōbaku Mahōden Slayers)

Slayers Evolution-R (one volume, published in Monthly Dragon Age, illustrated by Issei Hyouji, adapted from the anime series of the same name, 2009)

In iulie 1998, Central Park Media anuntase licentierea distribuirii seriilor manga in America de Nord.[11] On June 15, 1999, Slayers: Medieval Mayhem was released.[12] The four-volume series Slayers Special was published between October 12, 2002, and June 25, 2003.[13][14] A seven-volume series Super-Explosive Demon Story followed between July 9, 2002 and December 1, 2004.[15][16] Finally, Slayers Premium was published in North America on July 5, 2005.[17]

Between July 26, 2008 and March 2009, a new manga series entitled Slayers Light Magic (スレイヤーズ ライト・マジック) was serialised in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace. The series was written by Yoshijirō Muramatsu and illustrated Shin Sasaki, and set in a technological world instead of a fantasy world.[18][19]

The self-titled first season of the anime is a derivative of the light novel's first three volumes. Slayers NEXT was adapted from the events of volumes 4-8, whereas Slayers TRY is an original story. A fourth season, Slayers AGAIN, was rumored following the success of TRY, but early scheduling conflicts caused interest in the project to dissipate.[20]

Central Park Media licensed and distributed the anime in North America under the Software Sculptors label on VHS and Laserdisc between 1996 and 1998, collected in eight volumes.[21] It was a commercial success for Central Park, which led them to license Slayers NEXT and Slayers TRY; NEXT was first shipped from April 1999 in a similar format. A box set of the first four volumes was released in July 1999, and a box set of the second four volumes in October.[22]Slayers TRY was released later in 2000. The first three seasons were subsequently re-released on DVD (in season box sets). Months before Central Park's license for the anime properties expired, FUNimation Entertainment was able to obtain the license and it aired as part of the new owner's programming block on CoLours TV, as well as the FUNimation Channel.[23] The first bilingual DVD box set after FUNimation's rescue of the license was released on August 27, 2007 retaining the Software Sculptors-produced English dub.[24] A boxset of Slayers, NEXT and TRY was released by Funimation on August 4, 2009.[25]

Fox Kids won the rights to broadcast Slayers but eventually did not air the anime since it would be too heavy to edit it for content. The first North American television broadcast of The Slayers was February 17, 2002 on the International Channel.[26] In 2009, MVM Films began releasing the series in the United Kingdom on a monthly basis. The first series was released on four DVDs between January 5, and April 6, 2009. The first volume of Slayers NEXT was released on May 11, 2009.[27] Episodes have also been made available on the streaming video sites Hulu, YouTube, Crackle, Anime News Network, Netflix, and Funimation's website.[28]

A fourth anime series, Slayers Revolution, premiered in Japan on July 2, 2008.[29]Megumi Hayashibara performed both the opening and ending theme songs.[30] The new plot is told across two 13-episode arcs and follows an original storyline that has subplots based on events in the novels, with series director Takashi Watanabe and production studio J.C.Staff reprising their duties from the three original TV series.[31] A fifth Slayers series titled Slayers Evolution-R is the second 13-episode arc of Slayers Revolution and was aired on AT-X starting on January 12, 2009 in Japan.[32] FUNimation licensed both Slayers Revolution and Slayers Evolution-R for American release; the episodes in Japanese with English subtitles were uploaded to YouTube, as well as Funimation's website in July 2009.[33] Funimation contracted NYAV Post to produce the English version of the series, with dialogue being recorded in both New York City, and Los Angeles. NYAV Post was able to reunite most of the original Central Park Media main character cast for the new season. However, Michael Sinterniklaas replaced David Moo as Xellos.[34] Other notable characters, such as Sylphiel, Prince Phil, and Naga the Serpent were also recast with new voice actors.

In December 2009, Funimation announced that the first Slayers Revolution boxset would be released on March 16, 2010.[35] Funimation released the first four English-dubbed episodes of Slayers Revolution to YouTube on January 19, 2010.[36] They have also uploaded the first two English-dubbed episodes of Evolution-R to YouTube and released Evolution-R to the DVD in June 2010. Funimation released both Slayers Revolution and Evolution-R to Blu-ray on September 21, 2010 [37] Both seasons were later re-released together in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack.[38] Both Revolution and Evolution-R made their North American television debut when they began airing on the FUNimation Channel on September 6, 2010.[39]

The first OVA series, Slayers Special (スレイヤーズスペシャル,Slayers Special?), consists of three individual episodes directed by Hiroshi Watanabe. The first episode was released in Japan on July 25, 1996 by Kadokowa Shoten and J.C.Staff, approximately 10 months following broadcast of the final episode of the original anime series.[40] In North America, Slayers Special was initially sold as two separate titles, Slayers: Dragon Slave and Slayers: Explosion Array on VHS by licensee ADV Films.[3][41] All three episodes were later compiled into Slayers: The Book of Spells, shipped on November 21, 2000.[42]

A second three-episode OVA series, Slayers Excellent (スレイヤーズエクセレント,Slayers Excellent?) followed in 1998, also directed by Wantabe and produced by J.C.Staff. ADV Films released all the OVAs to VHS and DVD in both North America and the UK.[43]

Slayers The Motion Picture, also known as Slayers Perfect (or Slayers the Movie: Perfect Edition) and originally released in Japan simply as Slayers (スレイヤーズ), is a 1995 film written by Kazuo Yamazaki, based on an original story by Hajime Kanzaka, and directed by Yamazaki and Hiroshi Watanabe.

Slayers Return (スレイヤーズ RETURN,Sureiyāzu ritān?), also known as Slayers Movie 2 - The Return, is a 1996 film written by Kanzaka and directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Hiroshi Watanabe.

Slayers Great (スレイヤーズ ぐれえと,Sureiyāzu gurēto?) is a 1997 film written by Kanzaka and directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, Hiroshi Watanabe and Yoshimatsu Takahiro.

Slayers Gorgeous (スレイヤーズごうじゃす,Sureiyāzu gōjasu?) is a 1998 film written by Kanzaka and directed by Hiroshi Watanabe.

The series was adapted into an add-on for the Japanese role-playing gameMAGIUS (Slayers MAGIUS RPG).[3] In 2003, Guardians of Order published a licensed role-playing game The Slayers d20 using the d20 System,[44] as well as three guidebooks including pages of game stats in their BESM game system for the TV series' major characters, spells and weapons.[45] A collectible card gameSlayers Fight (スレイヤーズふぁいと) was developed by ORG and published by Kadokawa Shoten between 1999-2001.

Of the various media which make up the Slayers franchise, the anime has by far reached the largest audience and is considered to be one of the most popular series of the 1990s.[3] As it is a parody of the high fantasy genre, the series's driving force lies in comic scenarios alluding to other specific anime, or more general genre tropes and clichés. Due to the series' comedic nature, less development is given to plot and characters, which some consider predictable. Nevertheless, the series' focus on humor and entertainment and "old school" anime feel make it a nostalgic classic to many.[47]

In Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know, Gilles Poitras wrote: "More humorous and less serious looking than the characters in the Lodoss War series, the stars of Slayers provide action and laughs."[48] In The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Helen McCarthy similarly called it "the antidote to the deadly serious Record of Lodoss War, with a cynical cast modeled on argumentative role-players. (...) Ridiculing its own shortcomings, Slayers has successfully kept a strong following that watches for what some might call biting satire, and others bad workmen blaming their tools."[49]

Joseph Luster of Otaku USA called it "the very definition of an all-encompassing media franchise. (...) Slayers certainly has that in its memorable lineup, and they'll likely cast some sort of spell on you, regardless of age."[50] Paul Thomas Chapman from the same magazine opined it is a "franchise whose remarkable longevity and popularity is matched only by its remarkable averageness," especially regarding the various aspects of the TV series, but still appealing to him and making him return to it when he looks for a light entertainment.[51]